Whenever You're Ready
by ChloePacker
Summary: What do you do when you love someone, but don't WANT to love them? Guilt can confuse the mind... Sweenett story.
1. Chapter 1

_Hey guys, this is my first FanFiction so it might not be that good._  
><em>I fancied doing this because I'm in love with Sweenett so much!<em>  
><em>Please review it and tell me if you want me to carry on the story - I was thinking about writing more chapters now and then :)<em>  
><em>Thank you for reading :D<br>__

My head was delirious; from the realization I killed my dear wife and my trustworthy accomplice had lied to me, all because she loved me. As we waltzed towards the monstrous flames in the oven, my mind switched paths, and my grip loosened in Nellie's hand. I stopped singing and she dropped her arms by her side.

'What is it, my love?' she whispered, slowly moving her face towards mine, only half of it visible from the fires.

'I-I... I don't know,' I stuttered, feeling a thump in my heart. After a pause of thought I stared at the floor. 'You love me?'

'More than anything!' she confessed with a light chuckle in her throat. The floor started moving under my feet and I felt light headed. **'Mr T?'** I look up and her gaze puts me back in focus. As she smiled into my eyes, I slowly moved towards her. With millimetres distance between our lips, her breathing sped up and I could almost feel her heartbeat.

The thoughts rushing through my head whirled me into this insanity – Was I doing the right thing? Should I forgive her? Is her throat worth getting my razor bloody? How would poor Lucy react if she saw this?

'I can't. I just can't...' I moved back, covering my lips with my hand as if it were bloody chastity. Her dainty hand was lead to mine, she locked them loosely together. She pecked my cheek and walked off, smiling before she shut the door of the bakehouse and made an audible sound which echoed past the sewers' drains:

'_Whenever you're ready, dear...' _


	2. Chapter 2

_Ahhhh I'm so happy a few of you guys liked the first chapter and you wanted me to write another so here you go! :D  
><em>___

As I washed the bloody deed off my hands and face, I undid the button on my collar and took off my waistcoat, leaving it on the side of the bath. Looking into the mirror, I expected to see a monster, a murderer filled with guilt, but instead I saw a lost, confused man with a smile creeping in the corner of his mouth.

I collapsed into my bed with a single candle light flickering to my right. The blood on the window was still there and the empty trunk from which the young boy saw everything from was still open. Even though it was obvious evidence if a policeman heard of the lad's tale, it didn't matter to me. I felt as if something in my conscious made the Judge and Lucy's death a small, short term matter.

I stared at the ceiling; all was quiet, tranquil, paused. A beautiful sound muffled by the floorboards flourished into the room, disturbing the silence - it was Mrs Lovett singing one of her parlour songs on the harmonium. Heaven knows why she was singing in the early hours of the morning, but the melodic tunes sweetened the air and I fell into a deep sleep being lulled by a pretty woman like her...

_Sweet Polly Plunkett lay in the grass,  
><em>_Turned her eyes heavenward, sighing,  
><em>_"I am a lass who alas loves a lad—"_

The red sunlight beaming through the window blinded me, and I crawled into the bathroom, checking my pocket watch in my waistcoat. In the mirror was a not-so-groomed old gentleman. If I were to impress someone, I would need to spruce myself up – French cologne, a seductive tone and a shave. Using one of my other razors from the wooden box (I wouldn't have dared to touch the one stalking the bake house) I groomed myself to the best I could manage. Rummaging through my drawers I found my best ironed shirt, pair of trousers and waistcoat, adding my neck rag and blue jacket. After a final quick look in the mirror, I took a deep breath and went outside to greet Mrs Lovett...  
>_<p>

_Thank you to everyone who reviewed the first chapter! Please review this one too! :D_


	3. Chapter 3

_Hello everyone :D Thanks for the reviews again!  
>So this chapter is much longer (yaaay!) but is a bit more darker than the others. I thought of a storyline, so luckily now you're getting a bit fat chapter of it! Hope you like it. I think I risked it a bit in this one too! Please review this one :D<br>Thank you! x_  
>_<p>

Each step I took down the stairs felt like I was reaching closer to treasure. The night before I had promised myself I wouldn't be going near the bakehouse – the feelings I would have would drive me to insanity, and the memories from that night would have left me scarred enough. Approaching Mrs Lovett's pie shop I froze at the 'CLOSED' sign staring outside to the world, feeling a shiver down my spine, I slowly pushed the door open. At first the shop was desolate, dark and depressing, as if the shop was mourning the loss of something great, but a petite, graceful woman came out from the bake house and cheered the atmosphere up – the expression on her face, however wasn't as cheerful as her presence.

'What is it?' I asked hastily; her eyes made contact with mine, and for the first time, I saw true fear in her.  
>'Toby...' she whispered back, trying to hold back any tears.<br>'What about him?' she didn't reply. 'He hasn't escaped, has he?'  
>She only shook her head as tears started to form in her eyes, 'No, he's still here. Have a look.'<p>

She led me down to the grimy bake house, the stench was revolting and unbearable, but it was obvious Mrs Lovett had grown accustomed to it. It seemed that all of the 'debris' from the night before wasn't there anymore, but I felt that judging by state she was in, I shouldn't ask what she did with it. We walked down past the sewers we went to look for him before, but this time Mrs Lovett knew where she was going; and she wanted to get there as quick as she could. I started to hear a whimper echoing past the damp walls; a cry for help.  
>'Don't worry dear, I'm coming,' she cried out, as if her reassurance was too pathetic to affect him. My concern for the lad seemed to grow, even though I have never thought of him as much, I felt as if he was important to both of us, like I took on the role of a parent when I was with him. Seeing Mrs Lovett in such a state like this made me wonder if whatever has happened will affect me greatly.<p>

As the whimpering sound got louder, I saw the boy. He was tucked in a corner, shuddering. I couldn't see his face but recognised his ragged trousers and his brown hair. Mrs Lovett slowly shuffled towards him and bent over to take his hand.  
>'Toby dear, are you okay?' you could hear her voice wobbling, trying to disguise the fear and sadness in her voice. He pulled his hand from her grasp and grunted, whimpering more. Mrs Lovett walked over to me, grabbing my forearm, looking me deep in the eyes and begging, 'You try...' For a minute I didn't want to, but the pain and dread in her face persuaded me, I didn't want to see her like this, I wanted to see her as her cheerful self. I took a deep breath and slowly approached the shivering, delirious child.<p>

I reached my hand out to his shoulder and as I touched him, I felt him jolt away. It seemed talking to him would be the only way to get answers.  
>'Toby—'<br>'GET AWAY FROM ME! THE DEVIL! MURDERER! BURN YOU AT THE STAKE!' his head snapped towards me – life had been drained from him and the bags under his eyes were thick and grey, worse than anything I've seen in any ill customer in need of help. Mrs Lovett let out a short scream and stood behind me, trusting me to stop him.  
>'Toby, dear... What are you talking about?' she choked out in between her tears, gripping onto my arm tightly, almost stopping the blood flow.<br>'YOU KNOW TOO! I SAID! THE BEADLE... You thought he was fine. But you knew... YOU KNEW!' Toby got up and started to walk closer. 'Hag! WITCH... DEVIL! You two are the perfect couple. You BASTARDS!'  
>'Lad, I think you're mistaken...' I lowered my voice to calm everyone down and took a couple of small steps towards the insane child.<br>'LIAR. I saw YOU, and YOU!' he pointed his bony, dead finger towards both of us. 'He fell in front of me. His throat cut perfectly by a DEMON! YOU! MURDERER!' He snarled at me, never blinking. His gaze moved to the trembling woman behind me. 'Mum... you lied to me...' his voice calmed as he walked over to her grabbing her hand. All I could feel was her trembling. 'My own mother lied to me... Liar. LIAR. YOU HAG! DEVIL'S WIFE!'

'_She the Devil's wife. __**Beware her Sir.**__ She with no pity in her heart...'_

'Mr T?' the trembling woman grabbed me closer to her. 'What can we do? My poor son!' I was lost, my head spinning again.  
>'Lucy...' were the only words which spilled from my mouth. Those words felt like I said something sinful, regretful... I froze, only looking at the lad. 'What have I done?' The memory of me slashing her throat flashed in my head on repeat. I couldn't prevent seeing it. The thought burned my eyes. I turned to Mrs Lovett, her eyes widened at the hearing of her name. 'Mr T. Save us.'<br>'I-' I couldn't talk. It felt like some sort of witchcraft had prevented me from speaking. As if saying the Beggar Woman's name had triggered some sort of curse. For the first time, I felt like my eyes were stinging, and my vision was blurred. I felt a tear fall down my left cheek. All I saw was this boy, retching and staring into me. Anger took over and I gained back my ability to talk. 'No... NO!'  
>'WHAT DO YOU WANT! DON'T HURT ME!' he ran back to his corner. 'You can't kill me like you killed the others. YOU KILLED MY MASTER! And now... I AM MY OWN MASTER!'<br>'No, lad. I'm you master... And don't you DARE call her the Devil's wife... Only one person can call her the Devil's wife. Not you. It's my wife...' I heard a small gasp behind me. 'I thought I could get by, but you... you brought this on...'  
>'Mr T, what are you about?' she said into my ear. Glaring towards Mrs Lovett, she expected the worst.<br>'My wife, Mrs Lovett...' I slowly pulled out my razor. 'My beautiful wife.' I turned towards Toby, 'My dead wife...' I could've killed her, but something stopped me again. In my mind, Lucy was telling me to kill her, she lied to me, but it was because she loves me. Toby uttered her words. He deserves it more.  
>'Mr T? Drop the razor and come back upstairs now!' she started to scamper back the other direction.<br>'And what about the boy?' I yelled at her, my eyes still fixed on the twitching boy. All I gathered was a breath being taken in, a sob, and the words.  
>'He's not my son...' That was my cue. As I heard her footsteps echoing as she ran back up to the shop, I opened up my silver friend and slowly approached the poor fool.<br>'I WOULDN'T DO THAT SIR...' his head cocked and eyes bulging.  
>'I know... but I would...'<p>

_And with that, I relieved him from his insanity..._


	4. Chapter 4

_Sorry it's been ages! But here it is! The next chapter :D  
>Don't forget to review<br>xx  
>_<em>

This time I was lucky – my trustworthy friend killed him with a quick slash. The rubies dripped down his neck and stained his dusty clothes, he twitched and his screams gargled beyond the sewers before they ceased, causing a desolate, long pause. Moving his corpse into the bakehouse and burning him immediately, replacing Mrs Lovett's position in the oven, I scampered to her pie shop. My eyes were blinded from the intense amount of light compared to the amount underground. I heard a faint cry from behind the counter, slowly, I hesitated towards the archway where I found her sitting in her comfy chair with her back towards me, almost dead, clutching Pirelli's purse. She must've recognised my footsteps as her head twitched a little and she tried to stop crying.

'It's all I have that reminds me of him,' she managed before her lips started quivering and she'd set herself off again, 'What happened to him? Why did he... change?'  
>'He must've seen the Beadle come down the chute...' Zoning out, realizing how close we could have been to being framed, shown to all our customers that we're partners in crime. Partners. A painful pause filled the room; I was surprised Mrs Lovett hadn't mentioned the fact that I had murdered his son; it was like I had done nothing wrong. Then my stupid mouth blurted out words I wouldn't have thought of saying. 'Well? Aren't you going to kill me and say it's my fault?' Her head cocked slightly towards my direction, her hand on the arm of the chair in the shape of a fist, her knuckles white, then she looked down and sighed deeply –you could hear the nerves in her shaking her breath - as if she had given up on everything.<br>'No,' Is all she replied with, 'Come sit here.' She looked at the chair angled towards her, signalling me to sit there. I shuffled towards the chair and sat down, perched on the edge, ready for anything.

Another pause followed; it was time to take in all that has happened in the past 24 hours. Shivers crept up my spine as the memory of the Judge appeared in my head, then Lucy... Lucy. Can't I move on? My mind was twisted in a knot with confusion – could I really end up being a man stuck between two women? Is Mrs Lovett even an option? Why is revenge so bittersweet? Fate had taken over now; I **was** stuck, stuck between a beautiful, dead woman with yellow hair who used to be my wife and a beautiful liar who loves me and is with me now. After what felt like a lifetime, the silence was broken;  
>'I should go and get ready to open the shop,' her voice croaked as she slowly got up, dizzy from her emotions, I automatically got up to steady her.<br>'Do you want me to help?' I stared into her eyes, her dark, big, mournful eyes.  
>'No, you don't have to...' she replied in her normal perky voice. I couldn't tell if she was putting it on to cheer herself up for the customers or she genuinely felt a bit better – possibly from my comfort. However, I wasn't positive it could be the second option.<br>'Have a day off, Nellie,' I grabbed her hand, pulling her closer to me. We both gasped. I had never called her Nellie, or even held her hand in a caring way before.  
>'I suppose you're right...' Nellie whispered, and stayed close to me, just looking into me in disbelief. I didn't want to let go, but I felt that if I didn't, then we'd be stuck there. It wouldn't have been a problem if we stayed there, gazing thoughtfully, however, Nellie might have not wanted it, so for her sake I relaxed and guided her towards her chair again.<p>

Browsing the shelves, I found the half-empty bottle of gin along with a couple of glasses. Carefully pouring two glasses for ourselves, I felt a grin creep in the corner of my mouth, along with a silent chuckle; I stopped myself immediately and offered one of the glasses to Nellie. I sat opposite her, and she stared back at me – it felt like she saw me differently because of that moment we shared. It was barely anything massive, but felt as important in our relationship as mine was with hate for the Judge. I sunk further into my chair, relaxed, and gulped down my gin. Nellie was taking small sips and not really interested anymore, her eyes kept on darting to the shop in case royalty came round and requested the finest pie in all of London, but I gave her a look to calm herself and reassure her. It seemed to work.  
>'Sorry, Mr T. It's just that I'm in a bit of shock. I mean, you would be like this if someone you loved died, wouldn't you?' I raised my eyebrows at her, and she soon realized what she said, 'Oh God! Sorry, thinking too much about meself! If I do it again, you can hang me if you fancy,' she was trying to find something to laugh about, and amusing herself seemed to do the trick. 'I was like this when I lost my dear Albert so-'<br>'Hey. Nellie...' I leaned over so she saw me and I grabbed her hand. She had been breathing heavily - I could tell from her chest moving - but her breathing seemed to stopped for a second and she gazed back into my eyes. And I decided to carry on a simply say,

'_We'll get by..'_


	5. Chapter 5

_You know the drill; read, review, tell me how awesome I am ;) (I'm joking!)  
>-<em>

'_**Anthony, wait!' Johanna stopped him before he boarded the ship and guessing it's safe to let her hair down from her cap, 'That man, will he find us?'  
>'Don't worry, my sweet. Someone will find Mr Todd and uncover him for who he is. If it's any trouble I'll go to the law and tell them of his twisted ways; but there's nothing to fret about. We're going to be out of English seas by tomorrow, and we'll sail the world and see its wonders.'<br>Johanna's smile beamed for the first time, 'From the pearls of Spain to the rubies of Tibet.'  
>'And then home back to London. When everything's back to the way it should be, when we're married and maybe even with a family!'<br>'Someday,' she embraced her lover for a second then let go. At that moment a short, bald, broad man carrying a heavy-looking sack over his shoulder shuffled past them and Johanna started to follow him.  
>'Johanna?' Anthony grabbed her shoulder and she turned to him.<br>'You go ahead, I'll be a moment,' he still seemed unsure, but she leant in and quietly sung, 'Kiss me...'  
>Anthony lifted her head up and gave her a delicate peck on the lips. He nodded, boarding the boat. Johanna ran back over to the man yelling, 'Excuse me, good sir! Excuse me!' The man turned round, the light, chirpy voice bothered him; he then saw Johanna cantering towards him. It was too late in the evening to be this enthusiastic, 'Sorry Mister...' The man chuckled with his rough, hoarse voice.<br>'Name's Douglas. Douglas Reddick, miss,' he held out a hand; his skin was dark and his hand had dirt on it. Johanna daintily shook his hand as he let out a grimy smile with his large forehead lines creasing.  
>'Douglas,' she confirmed, 'I have a favour to ask of you while we are away.'<br>'Like wot?' he asked in a harsh, rowdy tone.  
>'Your reward for this favour will be grand,' she said with a smile curving in the corner of her lips.<br>'Go on...' Douglas said, his voice a bit more friendly and intrigued...**_

'How are you today, then?' Mrs Lovett solemnly said, putting my tray of supper down on the table.  
>'What do you mean? I should be the one asking you that,' I put the closed sign up on the door. It had been back to business as usual for the past few weeks after the incident with Toby; the same business which got us into all the mess in the first place, 'how are you?'<br>'I'm alright I guess,' she sighed, trying to smile then stared at my shoes to think, looking up at me, 'Mr T, can we talk about something?'  
>'Of course,' I offered her the barber chair while I pulled up a stool, my worry for Mrs Lovett had grown, as if she were my only friend I could trust or almost as if I were her guardian. Once she settled herself into the chair and leant her head back, I joined her, 'is something bothering you?'<br>'Yeah, you could say that,' she picked at a loose thread on the arm of her dress, 'well, someone.'  
>'Like who?' I said in a bitter manner, waiting for the answer, she tilted her head to the side so it faced me and she let out a sarcastic laugh.<br>'You! You, you silly mug! You've been confusing my head for the past few weeks and it's becoming a pain, Mr T!' she folded her arms and laid back, expecting for me to know what she was rambling about, she sighed again, this time a bit more annoyingly, 'You called me Nellie a while back and held my hand. Now that's not the Mr T I know...' I stared at the floor, slightly embarrassed.  
>'Can't I be a friend in sympathy?'<br>'Well, yeah. Of course but, to me, you aren't a caring person. All the time you been back in London I've never seen a show of affection or love. I feel as if you could never _be_ a caring person.' I looked up with a snarl creeping upon my mouth, 'So how come you cared?'  
>'Is it a problem,' I slowly got up so she was looking up at me, 'that I care?' Pacing towards the cracked mirror in the corner, I saw her crooked reflection looking at me.<br>'No, Mr T! It's just that after, well, you-know-who died; you seemed to... _change_ for a little while...' the crooked reflection walked closer towards me, 'And I enjoyed being cared for.' Closing my eyes I felt a touch on my shoulder.  
>'My thoughts changed for a while I guess,' I whispered with my eyes still closed; I wanted her to move away, but I didn't stop her from linking our arms together. As I opened my eyes the crooked reflection showed the two of us close together. Mrs Lovett was looking up at me, while I frowned at myself.<br>'Mr T, look in the mirror, dear. We _could_ have a life, us two, and those few days after all that drama; I felt as if we were starting one. Guess I was wrong, eh?' she chuckled, and I just glared at her, she glared back, 'I didn't say "Whenever you're ready" for no reason, Mr Todd. We could still have a life...' For a moment we froze, both of us studying the reflection, until she gave me a peck on the cheek and went over to the untouched supper. She opened the door, 'You food will get cold, dear.' And with that, she walked down to her pie shop.

Her footsteps created a path of sound leading to the floor underneath me. Those pattering sounds of her dainty feet were interrupted by a blood curdling shriek coming from the same place. My eyes widened.

_This was when I __did__ start caring for Mrs Lovett._


	6. Chapter 6

_I feel like such an idiot but just found the visitor stats and saw that I have 102 visitors :D 102 is A LOT FOR ME :P Thank you to all of you I really wanna know what you guys think of the whole story and ways for me to make it better so that you can enjoy it more :D_

_Anyway, that's me done rambling, ON WITH THE STORY!  
><em>_

In my whole lifetime I have never ran so quickly. I skipped a step on my way down to the pie shop and tripped; I stopped my fall with my hand and ended up with a nail piercing into my skin and gouging a hole in my hand, but I had to see if Mrs Lovett was okay. With my hand starting to gush out blood, I left a blood mark pushing the door of the pie shop open to find Mrs Lovett with a knife being pointed to her neck by a horrific, plump, cursed man. He didn't have any hair on his head or face for me to shave. Such a shame...  
>'Mr T!' Mrs Lovett whispered in between cries, her sooty eyeliner ran down her red, blotchy cheeks.<br>'Ah. So _this_ is Mr Sweeney Todd, is it?' the man grunted in between his teeth, restraining Mrs Lovett from escaping, 'Do forgive me sir,' His tone lightened to a more polite manner, 'but I'm just here to do my business.'  
>'And what kind is that?' I walked towards him, pulling my razor out.<br>'Oh, just something for a friend of mine...' he chuckled a vile chuckle, staring at my glistening friend, 'So, that's the famous blade is it? The one that cut the Beadle and the Judge...' My stomach dropped, how did he know? No one was there to watch—except for the young lad. It had all crept back to me – the lad in the trunk! How could I have forgotten? Surely for the time after I must've been delirious to let him slip away.  
>'It's that bloody sailor boy, isn't it? The one from the trunk!' I walked over to him, pointing my razor toward his tender skin. The hunched man just chuckled again, showing his grimy, black teeth.<br>'You mean woman, sir.'  
>'What?' Lowering my razor, confusion crossed my face. Mrs Lovett was oblivious to the fact there was anyone else <span>at all<span> in the parlour while I did the gruesome deed. Her jaw was clenched tight and she wouldn't give up escaping the demon's grip.  
>'Yes, sir. A young girl. The wife-to-be <em>of<em> a sailor boy. Does the name **Johanna** ring a bell?'

_Johanna..._

_Johanna?_

I had held my little girl in my arms. For a moment, I didn't give a damn that my precious girl had brought this havoc on – I felt happiness, then loss. No one could understand how I felt; my little girl was off to France. I almost killed her. I dragged her into the chair, razor pointing towards her fragile face. If I were to be technical, Mrs Lovett saved my daughter's life if she hadn't screamed for me. A single tear rolled down my cheek, but I tried to stop anything else show.

'You know 'er, sir?' my feelings were interrupted by the vermin lingering beside Mrs Lovett.  
>'...She's my daughter...' the sadness was recognisable in my voice, I slowly staggered towards a bench and collapsed, 'Johanna's my daughter!'<br>'And did she know you were his father, good sir?' the vermin spat out.  
>'...No.' I swallowed my emotion, then saw a sad Mrs Lovett whimpering, fresh tears coveringher face again.<br>'Mr T, Johanna was here?' she cried out, reaching her hand to mine.  
>'Yes, Mrs Lovett. And I thank you.' her face was full of confusion,<br>'Why?' she leaned towards me, still being restrained though.  
>'Because if you hadn't screamed because of that blasted Judge, she would've been dead...' I grabbed her hand; another tear dropped my eye as I gazed into hers. 'Thank you...'<p>

Time stopped for a while. For once, I was grateful that Mrs Lovett was there. She was company, and even though what happened was pure luck, it felt as if she was the reason for luck to happen for us. She gave me a roof over my head. She had kept my razors. She cooked my food. She bought my supplies. She thought of great business. She was always there for me. 'Thank you' wasn't enough.

'Right, let's take you to the asylum...' the cockroach took Mrs Lovett and whisked her toward the door. She did all she could to stop herself – digging her nails into the wooden benches and her heels into the fragile floorboards.  
>'MR T! MR T SAVE ME!' her scream brought a twist into my stomach and I grabbed her by the waist, playing tug of war with the monster, we carried on this game until we were half indoors, half outdoors. I quickly got out my razor and slit the demon on the arm, causing the beast to get infuriated. With that, he shoved Mrs Lovett into a coach and dragged the blade of his knife along my cheek. The man got in with her and the coach started going off towards Fogg's Asylum.<p>

'_**MR T! MR T!**_' was all I could hear through the echoing Fleet Street. As I started chasing the coach, blood started pouring down my face as well as the hole in my hand. Luckily, my gushing tears washed most of the deed off my face. After running to the end of the Street, I collapsed again, letting my sobs be heard. I had definitely attracted an audience, most of them Mrs Lovett's customers, but that didn't matter anymore. All I could do is shout for her.

'**NELLIE! !'**  
>_<p>

_Don't forget to review guys :D This was another 'epic' chapter so hope you liked it _


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